{"id":49547,"date":"2016-10-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/how-big-data-can-secure-user-authentication\/"},"modified":"2017-04-17T17:43:17","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T17:43:17","slug":"how-big-data-can-secure-user-authentication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/2\/31957\/trends\/big-data\/how-big-data-can-secure-user-authentication","title":{"rendered":"How Big Data Can Secure User Authentication"},"content":{"rendered":"
Password<\/a>-based as well as two-factor<\/a> and multi-factor authentication<\/a> processes have not been able to provide protection to systems and data as well as was expected due to various reasons. Password-based authentication<\/a> is too weak, and two-factor and multi-factor authentication processes have been rejected by users because of poor user experience<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Big-data<\/a>-based authentication systems promise to offer both robust authentication and a good user experience. Unlike other authentication systems, big-data-based authentication authenticates a user based on multidimensional and regularly updatable information collected about the user. The main difference between big-data-based authentication and other processes is that the former uses multidimensional information to authenticate a user. Multiple such products are already available on the market, and they are becoming popular. However, other systems have not been consigned to oblivion just yet due to various reasons. (To learn more about security methods, see What Enterprise Needs to Know About Identity and Access Management (IAM)<\/a>.)\n<\/p>\n In the user authentication domain now, the traditional systems such as password-based systems are still being used, while novel methods such as big-data-based authentication are emerging. Traditional systems, for all their problems, are still being used because of lesser acceptance of stronger authentication systems and integration issues with newer models. Some of the main trends in this domain are described below:\n<\/p>\n For all the innovations in this industry, the core principle of authentication systems remains the same: match user inputs with the available data in the system. The different authentication systems are described below:\n<\/p>\n The main challenges in the current process are described below:\n<\/p>\n Big-data-based authentication systems create profiles of all valid users of a system based on data collected about the user. The user does not even know that the system has been collecting data. Whenever a request to access the system is sent, the authentication system matches the information collected when the access request was made with that in the profile. Any mismatch or deviation from the profile could set off a warning about unauthorized attempts. (For more on security, see The 7 Basic Principles of IT Security<\/a>.)\n<\/p>\n Given the evolving nature of attacks, the big data authentication system performs pretty complex functions. According to Don Gay, the chief security strategist of a user behavior analytics<\/a> company, \u201cWith bad actors increasing the sophistication of their attacks, enterprises are having a difficult time pinpointing the threats and vulnerabilities that pose the largest risk.\u201d The user data it collects can be varied, unstructured and complex, such as the following:\n<\/p>\n The system simultaneously collects data about the user and monitors his activities too. The system has to adapt to the unique behavior of each user. As Ivan Tendler, the co-founder and CEO of Fortscale, a reputed user behavior analytics company says, \u201cWe look at this from the user\u2019s perspective. He has a name, a personality and habits. This user is sloppy or this user is risky or this user tends to have too much permission and so on. You have to look at the user history and profile his behavior. And only in those methods can you spot odd behavior and can pinpoint malicious users or compromised users whose credentials<\/a> were stolen.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The authentication system collects large volumes of both structured<\/a> and unstructured data<\/a> from a variety of sources and is able to analyze them, detect patterns of behavior and anomalies and detect attacks from a variety of sources such as network devices, security appliances, hosts, endpoints, applications and databases.\n<\/p>\n Organizations have been reaping benefits of this approach already. For example, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDLWD) uses a big-data-authentication solution to identify fraudulent unemployment benefit claims. The data authentication system works in two steps: first, it establishes whether the identity presenting a claim is real, and second, whether the identification is owned by the person making the claim.\n<\/p>\n The following trends could possibly unfold:\n<\/p>\n Big data authentication is still evolving and it will be a while before more is known about the system and its acceptability in the industry. Theoretically, it sounds promising, though. For all its fragility, the password-based system will not be junked, but used in conjunction with other authentication systems such as the two-factor and multi-factor systems. Another factor that needs to be considered is the ability or affordability on the part of organizations to migrate from basic authentication systems to more robust and stable systems.\n<\/p>\n According to Gartner, many organizations have been finding it tough to incorporate advanced authentication systems into their systems. Many organizations will watch the developments on the big data authentication front with both interest and caution. This applies especially in industries that deal with a lot of confidential data such as banking and finance, defense and healthcare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Password-based as well as two-factor and multi-factor authentication processes have not been able to provide protection to systems and data as well as was expected due to various reasons. Password-based authentication is too weak, and two-factor and multi-factor authentication processes have been rejected by users because of poor user experience. Big-data-based authentication systems promise to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7870,"featured_media":49548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[548,586,592],"tags":[],"category_partsoff":[],"class_list":["post-49547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","category-emerging-technology","category-identity-access-governance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCurrent Trends in User Authentication<\/span><\/h2>\n
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How the User Authentication Process Works<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Challenges in the Current Process<\/span><\/h2>\n
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How Big Data Authentication Works<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Future Trends<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n